Celebrating the Partition of Tibet

On August 20, at noon, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, landed at Lhasa Gongkar airport. 
His fourth visit to Tibet was to celebrate sixty years of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).

But what is the TAR?
In 1965, a Tibet Autonomous Region was established to ‘administrate’ Central and Westen Tibet. The area corresponded to the former Ü-Tsang Province and some parts of western Kham. It was a tragedy for the Tibetans because it meant the Partition of Tibet. 
Traditional, ethnic, linguistic Tibet was composed of three provinces Ü-Tsang, Kham and Amdo. Suddenly Tibet was divided in five parts, TAR was one of them, and the remaining parts were amalgamated to the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan.
Tibet was dismembered. It has always been one of the Dalai Lama’s demands to reunite the five parts of Tibet into one administrative and political entity.
Further, the autonomy promised in the name itself was never given; for the past 60 years the First Secretary of the TAR Communist Party, is not a Tibetan, but a Han. There are very few ethnic Tibetans in the higher echelons of the Party, as we could see in the videos of Xi Jinping’s recent visit.

The Delegation
Xi was accompanied by a large delegation from Beijing.
The Xinhua release observed that Xi was looking at “the long-term stability and high-quality development of Tibet in the new era and the construction of a socialist modern Tibet.”
Xi was greeted by “a cheering crowd when he stepped out of the cabin and waved to the people. Dressed in festive attire, people from different ethnic groups waved red flags and flower bouquets, dancing to joyful rhythms.” 
It looked more a North-Korea type of reception with everyone clapping at unison. Did the Tibetans ‘crowds’ have the choice to not participate? Probably not.
During the following day, the ‘clapping’ continued wherever Xi went. 
During such visits, it is always important to look at the composition of the ‘Central’ delegation; it is the best way to decipher the visit. 
Xi was accompanied by Wang Huning, No 4 in the Party, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and member of the Politburo’s Standing Committee. Wang’s colleague, Cai Qi, No 5 in the Partry and director of the General Office of the Central Committee who often accompanies Xi in his tours, was present.
Three other members of the Politburo came to Lhasa: Li Ganjie, head of the United Front Work Department along with He Lifeng and Zhang Guoqing; also present was the powerful Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong and Gen Zhang Shengmin, a member of the Central Military Commission who replaced the CMC’s strong man Gen Zhang Youxia, who had accompanied Xi in 2021. Why Gen Zhang did not come is probably because Xi and Zhang have lately not seen eye to eye. 
More importantly and hardly noticed was the presence of Hu Chunhua, a former Party Secretary in Tibet who was at one time Xi’s heir apparent. After being apparently disgraced, he seems to be back in favour; his eventual return needs to be followed closely. Incidentally, Hu is one of the very few Han leaders who can speak Tibetan.
Apart from Gen Zhang Youxia, Gen Wang Haijiang who since August 2021 has been commanding the Western Theatre Command opposite India, was missing in action. Earlier Wang had a long career in Tibet. Has he been purged? Everything is possible in China today. Also missing, Lt Gen Wang Kai, the commander of the Tibet Military District; only the TMD’s Political Commissar Lt Gen Yuan Honggang was seen around. 
These absences are intriguing.

The Fourth Visit
It was Xi’s fourth visit to the Roof of the World. 
In June 1998, then deputy secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee, he came to Tibet for the first time to take back a first batch of Tibet Aid cadres in Fujian and bring a second batch. 
In 2011, Xi Jinping, then Vice-President, led a delegation from the Central Committee to attend the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the so-called Peaceful Liberation of Tibet. He then said “the ecological protection of Tibet is an important issue, and it is necessary to protect Tibet's blue sky.”
His next visit was in 2021. From July 21 to 23, the General Secretary was in Tibet “to congratulate the 70th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet and visit and comfort the cadres and masses of all ethnic groups in Tibet.”
He also visited Nyingchi Prefecture, near the Indian border where he inspected the ecological environment protection of the Yarlung Tsangpo River and the Nyang River basin. Later, he travelled by train to Lhasa.

The Program
President Xi met six representative groups: people of ethnic groups and ‘all walks of life living in Lhasa’; then cadres who are posted in Tibet; next were judicial workers and police officers, followed by ‘grassroots role models’ and ‘patriotic members of the religious circles’, finally, he had a photo session with military officers ranked colonel and above.
During all these sessions, Xi looked tired, sometime haggard (while the other leaders visited the six Cities/Prefectures outside Lhasa, Xi remained in the capital to rest).  
During his meeting with the religious leaders, Xi had a brief encounter (not more than 5 seconds) with Gyaltsen Norbu, the Chinese selected Panchen Lama. It was the only time that the latter was seen during the visit, which probably means that Norbu will not play an important role in the selection of the next Dalai Lama as he was not given any prominent role during the visit. 
Wang Huning and Cai Qi attended all the meetings.

The Work Report
Xi was invited to listen to the work report of the TAR government.
During his interaction, Xi stressed that “Tibet should fully implement the party's strategy of governing Tibet in the new era, adhere to the general tone of steady progress, implement the new development concept in a complete and accurate manner, solidly promote high-quality development, continue to grasp the four major events of stability, development, ecology and strong edge, and strive to build a socialist modern new Tibet that is prosperous, civilized, harmonious and beautiful.”
The usual  jargon. Do the Tibetans really believe this? It is doubtful but do they have a choice?
The Chinese President then made a summary of the Party’s successes for 60 years: “its economic and social development has achieved remarkable progress, leading to profound changes in the plateau region.” It cannot be denied that materially Tibet has changed.
Xi explained Beijing’s policies: “Governing Tibet, ensuring its stability and promoting its prosperity must begin with maintaining political and social stability, ethnic unity and amity among different religions, calling for further advancing the building of a community for the Chinese nation,” Xi asserted. Stability is a recurrent issue in Xi’s discourse.
Xi then emphasized the need to guide “Tibetan Buddhism in adapting itself to socialist society.” He did not use the usual term of ‘sinisation’ of Tibetan Buddhism, but the result will be the same, erasing all traces of Indian influence on the propagation of Buddhism in Tibet.
He also asserted that Tibet (now called ‘Xizang’ by the Chinese government) “needs to develop competitive plateau industries based on local conditions, with a particular focus on industries of agriculture and animal husbandry with local features, as well as the clean energy sector.” This is being done on a large scale, completely changing the landscape of the Roof of the World and worse, changing the demography of the plateau by bringing lakhs of migrants from China.
Finally, he mentioned the construction of a series of hydropower plants on the Yarlung Tsangpo/Brahmaputra which cause deep anxiety in India: “major projects such as the hydropower project in the lower reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River and the Sichuan-Xizang Railway project in a vigorous, orderly and effective manner.”
He spoke of the promotion of ecological conservation: “to make coordinated efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, expand green development, and pursue economic growth, so as to protect the roof of the world and the water tower of Asia."
It does not make practical sense. One can’t destroy and protect the environment at the same time.

The Return of Zhao Zongqi
During the Gala reception in the evening, India was in for a surprise: Gen Zhao Zongqi, the artisan of the Doklam confrontation (2017) and the Eastern Ladakh Chinese intrusions in 2020, was posturing, seated in full uniform in the row behind the top leader. Gen Zhao has retired in December 2020 as Commander of the Western Theatre Command after spending two decades posted in Tibet; after taking the command of this sensitive area facing India, he created havoc in the Sino-Indian relations by trying to occupy five places in Ladakh. So, why was he invited? 
Probably to show India, that the border issue is far from being settled, despite the recent meeting of the Special Representatives in Delhi.
This visit (the shortest of Xi’s four visits) is ominous for the Tibetans as well; gaining any type of autonomy in the present circumstances is utopic.
And the question remains: are the Tibetans allowed to not clap?

 

Gen Zhang Shengmin member CMC in Lhoka

Wang Huning at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery with Chinese Panchen Lama

Stage managed reception for Xi Jinping in Lhasa Airport

 

The 'Tibetan' Hans

Wang Huning, Politburo Standing Committee member in the Tibetan delegation

In March, China will have a new government or State Council.
Its composition is already more or less known.
The always well-informed South China Morning Post announced the names of most of the State Council’s members.
It will however have to be ratified by the People’s National Congress (NPC) next March.
Some 20 ‘Tibetan delegates’ represent the Tibetan Autonomous Region at the NPC.
Among them are a few Hans.
In the last NPC, the most illustrious member of the Tibet delegation has been Wang Huning, today member of the CCP’s Politburo Standing Committee, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the CCP Central Committee and Director of the Central Policy Research Center of the CCP Central Committee.
He will probably be re-nominated (incidentally, President Hu Jintao was also a member of the Tibet delegation).
Another Han member used to be Chang Xiaobing, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of China Unicom; since then he has been ‘investigated’ and he is today languishing in jail. He will be replaced by another corporate tycoon.
A third one has been in the news this week.
It is Prof Ding Zhongli, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who has just been nominated Chairman of China Democratic League (CDL).
According to his biography, Ding Zhongli is a native of Zhejiang province. Born in 1957, he graduated from Zhejiang University, and received a doctorate from the Institute of Geology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is the director of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Since 2008, he became vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Ding Zhongli has been researching paleoclimatology and the Chinese loess deposits for over twenty years. He and his co-authors systematically investigated the loess stratigraphy of the Loess Plateau, demonstrated the continuity of the loess-soil sequence by correlating the loess sections of the Plateau, and subdivided the loess deposits into 37 pedostratigraphical units in the past 2.6 Ma. He established an orbitally-tuned time scale for the loess sequence on the basis of the Baoji grain-size record. …By correlating the climate records of the loess with those of the deep-sea sediments, he showed that changes in global ice volume may have been a major factor in driving glacia-interglacial variations of the Asian monsoon system.
Why is Ding member of the Tibet delegation at the NPC?
One reason might be that the Chinese leadership wants to keep a tab on the environment of the plateau (Xi can keep an eye on the political developments through Wang Huning).
Prof Ding has now become Chairman of the China Democratic League (CDL).
What is the CDL?
It is a ‘political’ party founded in March 1941; it is headquartered in Beijing and it has a membership of 230,000. The ideology of the party is ‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’.
The CDL (or Minmeng) is one of the eight legally recognised political parties in the People's Republic of China.
At the time of its formation (in 1941), it was a coalition of three pro-democracy parties and three pressure groups. Its two main goals were to support China's war effort during the Second Sino-Japanese War and to provide a ‘Third Way’ from the Nationalists and the Communists.
The party tilted towards the CCP during the Chinese Civil War.
According to Wikipedia: “Thereafter, two of its constituent parties, the China National Socialist Party and the Chinese Youth Party, left the League to join the Nationalists in Taiwan. The ‘Third Party’ eventually became the Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party in 1947. It left the League, but remained pro-Communist.”
In 1997, it adopted a constitution, which stipulated that its program was "to hold high the banner of patriotism and socialism, implement the basic line for the primary stage of socialism, safeguard stability in the society, strengthen services to national unity and strive for the promotion of socialist modernisation, establishment and improvement of a market economy, enhancement of political restructuring and socialist spiritual civilisation, emancipation and development of productive forces, consolidation and expansion of the united patriotic front and realisation of the grand goals of socialism with Chinese characteristics."
We may have to wait next March to see if Prof Ding is still a member of Tibet delegation to the NPC, but there is no reason why he should not be.
The question remains what is/will be his contribution?
The CDL's program is probably fitting with Beijing’s objectives in Tibet.
A Chinese government website noted that in September 1949 the CDL attended the First Plenary Session of the CPPCC in Beijing. It took part in drawing up the Common Program and preparing for the establishment of the People's Republic of China: “Since New China was founded, the CDL has been sharing weal and woe with the CPC and making important contribution to the state political life, economic construction, culture and education.”
With Wang Huning and Ding Zhongli, Beijing can keep a close check on the political and environmental developments on the plateau.
Whether the Tibetans will benefit the presence of these two Han delegates is another issue.

'Tibet' delegate prosecuted

Three years ago, in a post ‘Chinese Hans from Tibet', I mentioned that three senior Han officials had been nominated in the Tibetan delegation to the National People’s Congress .
One was Wang Huning, the powerful member of the Politburo and close confidant of President Xi Jinping.
He was probably put in this position to report to his mentor the ‘feelings’ of other Tibetan delegates.
The second Han in the delegation is Dr. Ding Zhongli, a well-known environmentalist, whose job seems to keep a tab on the plateau’s environment.
The third one was Chang Xiaobing, former Chairman of state-owned China Unicom for 14 years before taking over China Telecom in August 2015.
However, he was detained as part of a graft probe in late December 2015.
I had mentioned it here 'Tibet delegate to the Congress investigated'.
Now Chang Xiaobing faces prosecution, as the Communist Party wrap up an internal anti-graft investigation against him.
The South China Morning Post reported: “The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said that Chang allegedly took bribes, interfered in the anti-graft agency’s inspection and violated state-owned enterprise corporate governance rules.”
He has been expelled from the party and sacked from all public offices and the prosecutors have taken over his case.
According to the Hong Kong newspaper, “the investigation into Chang was related to allegedly corrupt activity during his time at China Unicom.”
According to a letter by a mainland credit assessment company, Chang would have sold a state-owned office building in Beijing at 800 million yuan below the market price to benefit the family of the disgraced former Central Military Commission vice-chairman Guo Boxiong.
Once again, a corruption case points the finger at the People’s Liberation Army and its two infamous vice-chairmen, General Guo Boxiong and General Xu Caihou.
Who will replace Chang in the Tibet delegation is not known.

Yearly Communist Rituals are on

Khatas are presented to Xi by the Qinghai delegation at the NPC

Who says that the Communists do not believe in rituals?
Every year in March, the same rituals take place in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Deputies of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National Peoples’ Congress (NPC) assemble in Beijing to demonstrate the ‘vitality’ of China’s democratic system …with Chinese characteristics.
The High Mass is known as the 'Two Sessions'.
Deputies from far-away (and often restive) provinces land in the capital to ‘debate’ and vote the new Laws of the Land.
Incidentally this year they have to ratify a new counter-terrorism law, which may not be to welcome by the 'ethnic' masses.
Monika Chansoria wrote in The Sunday Guardian: “The anti-terrorism law’s Article 18 establishes obligations of technology companies to assist the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of National Security in investigating terrorism, including providing technical support and assistance with information encryption. This essentially implies that technology firms will be required to install ‘backdoors’ in products or hand over sensitive information including encryption keys to the Chinese government.”
A frightful program!

Tibetan delegate

The Ritual Visit
An important part of the rituals is costumed parade of the ‘ethnic’ delegates wearing colourful dresses, impressive hats and shiny jewelry ...and Communist badges.
The Mass is also for the ‘regional’ delegation, the occasion to get the darshan (and sermon) of one of Magnificent Sevens (i.e. the members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo),
I had been wondering who of the Sevens, would drop by at the ‘Tibetan party’ this year.
In 2013, Xi Jinping, the Numero Uno himself appeared.
In 2014, Yu Zhengsheng, No 4 in the hierarchy, provided the annual lecture (‘follow the Party’).
Last year, Wang Qinshan, No 6 and the czar of the anti-corruption campaign, delivered the Message on behalf of the Sevens.
This year, Zhang Gaoli, No 7 and Chinese Vice Premier, attended the second session of the NPC Fourth Session and met the ‘Tibetan’ delegates.
Xinhua reported that the Vice Premier participated in the deliberations with the ‘lawmakers’ from Tibet Autonomous Region.
Zhang Gaoli took the opportunity to stress some important principles, such as governing Tibet according to the Law, striving to make people rich or working through long-term development, for the region bright future.
Zhang asked the 'Tibetans' to continue building a moderately prosperous society, for that: “Tibet needs to strengthen ethnic unity and make earnest efforts to maintain stability,” he added.

Zhang Gaoli and the Tibet delegation

‘Follow Xi’
Zhang also explained that it is important to 'follow' General Secretary Xi Jinping and read the series of his important speeches, and implement his ‘Four Comprehensives’; Tibet should adhere to the directions of the Party's leadership, follow the rule of law and work for the cohesion of the people of different nationalities …by keeping in mind Chinese characteristics ...as well as the characteristics of Tibet's development path.
When the ‘Tibetan’ delegates gave their views, Zhang Gaoli listened and took notes; from time to time, he interrupted the speaker to inquire about the situation in Tibet.
The atmosphere was very warm, commented Xinhua.
It has to be!
Interestingly, among the 20 ‘Tibetan’ delegate (on a house of 2,900 members), only 15 are Tibetans or belonging to ‘border’ tribes (memba and lopa).
Apart from Chen Quanguo, the TAR Party Secretary and Wu Yingjie, his deputy, 3 Han have been nominated to keep a check on the Tibetans.
One is Wang Huning, Xi’s closest collaborator and member of the Politburo; another one is Prof Ding Zhongli from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (probably keeping an eye on the environment of the plateau).
The last ‘Tibetan’ Han delegate is (was) Chang Xiaobing, till December 2015 the Chairman of China Telecom, who is now ‘investigated’ by the sleuths of Wang Qishan. He was obviously not seen on the pictures, as he is probably in jail.
Wang Huning too did not appear during the deliberations (at least on the published pictures).

Where was Xi Jinping?
According to The China Daily, the Chinese president joined a panel discussion with the delegates from Qinghai province.
He spoke at length about the environment of the Tibetan plateau, particularly about the Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve (or the Three Rivers Nature Reserve); it is where the headwaters of the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, and the Mekong River are located.
Xi said that protecting the fragile ecology there is of utmost importance.
He told the local government officials that it was their duty to protect the ecological environment on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, especially in the Sanjiangyuan area: "The ecological environment has irreplaceable value. We should treat it as our lifeline and protect it like the apple of our eye.”
According to Xinhua, President Xi urged the officials to try hard to lift people out of poverty and maintain ethnic unity (Tibetans and Hui constitute at least half the population of Qinghai.
Sanjiangyuan is said to be one of the world's most biologically diverse nature reserves, the area is home to more than 2,200 types of wild plants, 85 animal species and over 230 kinds of birds, explained the Chinese news agency: “However, since the late 20th century, the source lakes have shrunk as a result of environmental damage caused by human activities and overgrazing.”
In December, the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms, headed by Xi, passed a bill to launch a national park in Sanjiangyuan, highlighting the area's significance as a national focus for environmental protection.
Xi told the lawmakers that the ecological system of the plateau is fragile and glaciers, lakes, rivers and wetlands should be protected to guarantee that ‘rivers of clean water run eastward’.
Is the Chinese President really aware of the importance of the plateau for Mainland China?
Only Beijing's actions will tell!
Luo Huining, Qinghai’ Part boss and also a member of the NPC, affirmed that Sanjiangyuan is the most sensitive place for global climate change and the ecology there is related to the water safety of China and the rest of Asia.
More controversial is the decision of the Qinghai government to relocate 60,000 residents (read 'nomads') from the national park area ‘for ecological restoration’.
Luo asserted: “Our goal of establishing Sanjiangyuan national park is not to boost tourism, but to protect the ecology there."
Can he be believed?
The nomads will the first to pay the price of ‘relocation’.

On the other side of the Himalaya
India is also concerned by the new dams coming up on the Yarlung Tsangpo/Siang/Brahmaputra in Tibet (3 more like the Zangmu dam during the 13th Five-Year Plan).
Though China announced that the projects are “scientifically planned to ensure that there is no impact on water flows to downstream areas “, can Beijing be trusted in the absence of any trans-border treaty or agreement?
Beijing however affirmed that its position is ‘just and legitimate’.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei even told PTI: “There has been good cooperation between China and India on the issue of trans-border rivers for a long time. The Chinese side has overcome many difficulties and provided service such as provision of hydrological data to the Indian side thus playing a positive role".
This is a ritual declaration.

A few comments
1- Where was Gyatsen Norbu, the Chinese Panchen Lama?
He was not seen on any picture though he is a member of the CPPCC National Committee?
Was he indisposed?
2- Why are the Sikyong candidates so uninterested by what is happening in Tibet and China? They do not have anything to say on the seriousness of the situation inside Tibet?
3- Why only 20 delegates for the Tibetan Autonomous Region?
Han chauvinism probably.

Tibet delegate to the Congress investigated

Chang Xiaobing, another tiger investigated

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported today that the Chinese Communist Party graft-busters are investigating China Telecom's chairman, Chang Xiaobing.
The Hong Kong newspaper says that the probe comes 10 months after Chang claimed, on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress in March, that he only took home US$ 1,200 a month (after tax!). Chang was then attending the Congress as a member of the Tibet delegation.
Now, it looks like Chang was taking more than US$ 1,200 a month!
The SCMP notes: “China Telecom chairman Chang Xiaobing is the latest senior official of a state-owned industrial juggernaut to fall from grace in Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on corruption.”
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, announced in a statement that Chang “was suspected of seriously violating party discipline”, in other words, a case of corruption!
Four months ago, Chang, 58, then chairman and chief executive of China Unicom, had swapped job with Wang Xiaochu, then chairman of China Telecom. It was a major reshuffle at the top of China’s telecom sector.
Two sources told the SCMP that the investigation into Chang’s allegedly corrupt activities relates to his time at Unicom; he had been officiating as Chairman since November 2004.
A few months ago, two Unicom officials, Zhang Zhijiang, a general manager responsible for network construction, and Zong Xinhua, who oversaw e-commerce, had been ‘taken away’ by the CCDI officials, also for allegedly ‘serious violations of discipline’.
At that time, it was reported that some Unicom officials committed a series of wrongdoings, including colluding with vendors to make illegal incomes; taking advantage of their positions to help relatives secure big contracts; and accepting valuable ‘gifts’ such as shares of companies from clients.
Chang Xiaobing is/was a member of the Tibet delegation to the National People’s Congress (with Wang Huning, President Xi Jinping’s faithful confident).
In March 2013, Bloomberg News had reported that China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd., the nation’s second-largest wireless carrier, had announced that its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Chang Xiaobing had joined the National People’s Congress as a member of the Tibet delegation.
Bloomberg then commented: “Chang is not ethnically Tibetan, and China Unicom has no information on why he was chosen for that delegation, Zhou Xiaoke, Unicom’s Hong Kong-based director of investor relations, said... Chang has previously served on the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which advises the legislature.”
Bloomberg added: “Chang joins the Tibetan delegation at a sensitive time as a rising number of activists from the region are setting themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule. Chang is part of the nation’s ethnic Han majority and is from the northern province of Hebei that surrounds Beijing.”
The reason why Chang was part of the 20-member Tibet delegation (with Wang Huning) is that Xi Jinping wanted the industry to invest on the plateau. Chang was the representative of the industry, like Wang Huning represented the Politburo and Dr. Ding Zhongli of the Chinese Academy of Science represented ‘environment’.
I had mentioned this in March 2013 on this blog.
Coincidentally, Xinhua announced last week that China will continue to offer preferential financial policies to support Tibet for the next five years. Pan Gongsheng, deputy head of the People's Bank of China, urged commercial banks to provide more credit resources for Tibet “while risks are under control.”
Pan stressed the importance of diversifying financial businesses and increasing branches in Tibet, and encouraging qualified capital to establish small institutions like private and village banks.
More direct financing and financial bonds are expected to facilitate enterprises, especially small and micro businesses in Tibet, he said.
In the meantime, Xi Jinping will have to find a replacement for Chang Xiaobing in the Tibet delegation to the National People’s Congress in March.
Why not Jack Ma, who recently bought The South China Morning Post?

Latest:
According to SCMP, China Unicom’s former chairman is said to have sold a state-owned office building in Beijing at 800 million yuan (HK$957 million) below the market price to benefit disgraced former general Guo Boxiong’s family, according to a letter (circulated online) by a mainland credit assessment company.
State-owned telecommunications giant China Unicom in 2011 sold the Beijing China Merchants International Financial Centre to a real estate firm under the control of Guo’s family, the letter said.
The deal resulted in about 800 million yuan worth of losses in state assets as the building was sold at only a third of its market price of 1.2 billion yuan. Other potential buyers, including insurance giant Taikang Life Insurance, had offered much higher prices but were turned down, the letter said.

Wang Qishan drops by at Tibet Meet

Left to right: Padma Choling, Jampa Phuntsok, Wang Qishan,
Wang Huning, Chen Quanguo, Lobsang Gyaltsen

A few days before the opening of the yearly grand messe, aka the National People’s Congress (NPC), China Tibet Online speculated: “You may wonder what China’s top leader will say [this year] about Tibet?”
The website affiliated to Xinhua answered by quoting the previous interventions of President Xi Jinping, when he met with the Tibet Delegation at the NPC in 2013 and 2014.

According to the website:
On March 9, 2013, attending a discussion held by the NPC’s Tibet Delegation, Xi Jinping stressed the need to "unswervingly consolidate ethnic unity and create a long-term mechanism to ensure such unity is upheld".
Xi further spoke of its strategy for ‘comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society’.
On March 4, 2014, Xi Jinping attended a meeting involving ethnic minorities of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China’s political advisory body. He emphasized that terrorism must be fought according to law in order to consolidate ethnic unity, social stability and national unification. The message was probably addressed to Xinjiang.
Yu Zhengsheng met the Tibet delegation on March 10, 2014.
China Tibet Online concluded: “The above provides some clues as to what one can expect of Xi Jinping regarding Tibet during the Two Sessions”.

Wang Qishan arrives in the Tibet 'room'

The 2015 Two Sessions
The Chinese government's work report (something like the State of the Union in the US) delivered by the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, during the Third Session of the 12th National People's Congress included some ‘highlights’ about the Tibetan-inhabited areas (note that the Chinese Premier did not refer to the Tibetan Autonomous Region alone, but to all the ‘Tibetan-inhabited areas’. This remains one of the main bones of contention between the Dalai Lama’s Administration in Dharamsala and Beijing).
Li Keqiang affirmed that Beijing would like:

• To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding the Tibet Autonomous Region
• To protect the source of the three major rivers - the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang [Mekong] River in Qinghai Province
• To adhere to the policy of Regional Ethnic Autonomy
• To protect the intangible cultural heritage and the rich resources that Tibet boasts of

The 'deliberations'

This year, the Tibet delegation did not get the CPC’s General Secretary’s visit, but the all-powerful Wang Qishan, the supreme boss of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection’s (CCDI) and member of the Standing Committee of the CPC’s politburo, paid a visit to the Tibet delegation and ‘participated in the deliberations’.
Xinhua (Chinese language) published a report.
On March 12 at 3 pm, Wang Qishan entered the room allotted to Tibet in the Great Hall of the People. He was received by some Tibetan delegates (Pub Tsering, Sonam Phuntsok and two monks) with a khata (ceremonial scarf) and escorted to the meeting room.
Here is rough translation of the article on Wang’s visit.
Wang Qishan participated in the deliberations of the second session of the Tibet delegation to the NPC meet.
A photo appeared along with the article. It shows Wang surrounded by Wang Huning (director of the Central Policy Research; member, politburo and close confidant of Xi Jinping), Jampa Phuntsok (Vice-Chairman, NPC's Standing Committee), Chen Quanguo (Tibet’s Party Secretary), Padma Choling (Chairman, TAR’s regional Congress), Lobsang Gyaltsen (head of the TAR’s government) and Wu Yingjie (Party’s Deputy Secretary).

According to Xinhua:
After listening to Qiangba (Jampa Phuntsok), Lobsang Gyaltsen, and other representatives, Wang pointed out that the pursuit of wealth and civilization is the eternal quest in the history of human development.
The CPC's ‘two hundred years’ goal is to meet the people's growing material and cultural needs. You should maintain close ties between the Party and the masses; you should strengthen national unity and safeguard the stability of the society, he said.
Party members and cadres should not forget the party's fine tradition and [work?] style; you should keep serving the people wholeheartedly and never mind having close ties with the masses. Implement the spirit of the eight provisions [?] with perseverance; improve your [life] style; this is a solemn commitment of the Party Central Committee; it is the ardent desire of the masses.
Correct the 'Four Winds': it is a struggle one cannot afford to lose; if we do, we will lose the trust of the people, causing in turn greater damage to the Party.
Wang said that the new word cannot forget the old word, improve your style.
Chen Quanguo presided over the meeting. He said that Wang Qishan’s speech was important as it provided China with an overall strategic focus, and helped thinking deeply. As for Tibet, according to Chen, Wang reaffirmed the importance of the development work for the future and this, under a stable and honest government.
At first sight, nothing very exciting or new in Wang's words, except for his insistence of the 'fine tradition of the Party' and the life style of its members.
Interestingly, Wang Qishan did not mention the new theory of Xi Jinping, ‘The Four Comprehensives’. Does it mean that it is not agreed by all in the Politburo?
It may be an issue, because The South China Morning Post reported “an apparent slip in the rhetoric led to a tough question about President Xi Jinping's political theory: quite how many ‘comprehensives’ are involved in the so-called ‘Four Comprehensives’ theory?”.
The Hong Kong newspaper explained: “The answer's not so obvious. …Yet surprisingly, copies of the work report of Premier Li Keqiang for delegates and the press contained no reference to ‘strict enforcement of discipline in the party’ [the forth comprehensive].”
One comprehensive was missing in action. The ‘error’ was later rectified.
During his speech to the Tibet delegation, Wang did not mention any ‘comprehensives’ (it would be very surprising, if he had mentioned it and it had not been reported,).
Why Wang and not Xi Jinping or Yu Zhengsheng (who usually monitors the United Front Work and 'drop by' last year) visited the Tibet delegation?
Perhaps a question of heavy schedule!
But it could also be that Wang’s visit to the Tibet Delegation is a prelude to a more active role of the CCDI in Tibet, in the months to come. In which case, some heads will roll down.
It is not easy to answer this question too.
The presence of Wang Huning, who is a member of the 'Tibet' delegation (don't ask me why!) is interesting, due to his closeness with Xi Jinping.
Last point, the Dalai Lama’s name was apparently not mentioned. It might be a sign of ‘softening’, but softening …with Chinese characteristics, which often translates into ‘no softening at all’.

Farce in the name of Tibet’s representation

My article Farce in the name of Tibet’s representation appeared in the Edit page of The Pioneer yesterday.

Click here to read...

Xi Jinping and the Tibet issue

My post The Chinese who matter in Tibetan Affairs has been updated. I have added Wang Huning, a member of the Politiburo who 'represents' Tibet at the National People's Congress.
Recently, he has often been seen with Xi Jinping; for example he accompanied him to Gansu (near the Labrang monastery) during the Spring Festival.
According to the correspondent of the Ta Kung Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper regarded as the mouthpiece of Communist Party of China, Wang Huning, Chang Xiaobing and Ding Zhongli, the Han members of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) delegation were present during Xi Jinping’s meet with the TAR delegation during the on-going National People's Congress.
The Party General Secretary would have said the trio was members of the TAR delegation because they represented three faces of the vital Aid Tibet program (Central, economic and scientific aid).
Xi also noted that a large number of senior officials who attended the Two Meetings in Beijing had been involved with different responsibilities in Tibet in the past. (It is said that 10 of the 25 members of the Politburo have been involved at one point or another of their career with Tibet).
Xi apparently said the number of top officials involved in Tibet affairs will only increase in the future. He gave the assurance that Beijing will continue to pay close attention to the region.
Ma Haoliang, the Ta Kung Pao correspondent (or reporter) was apparently present when Xi Jinping met the Tibet delegation. He noted:

Xi pledged that his new leadership group would pay the same close attention to Tibet as previous leadership groups and would continue to emphasize “the maintenance of stability and leap-frog style development”, following China’s own special pathway and according to Tibet’s special characteristics. He cautioned however that there can be no stability in Tibet without economic development, but a constant vigilance must be exercised against ethnic problems, sensitive religious issues and sudden waves of Tibet independence sentiment .
Xi said China will not bend to the pressure produced by collusion between foreign hostile forces and those seeking Tibet independence.
Xi said the special characteristics of Tibet must be respected with even greater protection to its culture and religious faith as well as continuous support for its rapid, leap-frog economic development.
Xi remarked about how impressed he was by Tibet during his July 2011 trip for the 60th anniversary of Tibet’s ‘peaceful liberation.’

There is no other independent source to corroborate the Ta Kung Pao's assertions.
Also regarding Tibet, the South China Morning Post mentioned that: "The former top aide to outgoing President Hu Jintao scraped through to vice-chairmanship of the nation's top political advisory body (CPPCC) yesterday with the lowest number of votes, after his career was hit by a scandal over the cover-up of his son's death in a Ferrari crash in Beijing last March."
I have mentioned a few times on this blog the role of Ling Jihua, the new boss of the United Front Department dealing amongst others with Tibet affairs.
Ling Jihua, Hu Jintao's former Chief of Staff, made it to vice-chairman with 90 of the 2,191 delegates voting against him, the highest number of opposition votes recorded.
The Hong Kong newspaper said the Ling showed no emotion after the result was announced. Though the vice-chairmanship of the CPPCC is largely symbolic, those holding the office are regarded as 'state leaders' and entitled to a range of perks.
Remember the Ferrari car accident which ruined Ling's promising career. Two Tibetan women were apparently involved.,
The South China Morning Post had reported on October 2012.

The 25-year-olds were pulled half-naked from car smash in March
The two young women at the centre of the Ferrari crash that killed the son of high-level Communist Party official Ling Jihua have been named.
In its latest issue, Hong Kong-based news magazine Asia Weekly writes that the two young women in the vehicle when Ling Gu died upon impact after crashing his Ferrari were Tashi Dolma (Zhaxi Zhuoma), daughter of a deputy director of the Qinghai Provincial Public Security Department, and Yang Ji, then a student at China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, reportedly the daughter of a well-known living Buddha also from Qinghai.
According to Asia Weekly, Yang passed away unexpectedly last month despite showing signs of positive recovery from the serious injuries she sustained in the accident. It is claimed she felt unwell and was given an injection last month, after which she fell into a coma and later died.
High-level Communist Party official Ling Jihua lost his son in the accident. The magazine, citing 'informed Beijing sources', claims both the women are ethnic Tibetans and were each 25 years old at the time of the accident.
The accident happened in the early hours of March 18 when the speeding Ferrari smashed into a wall, rebounded and crushed a railing on the opposite side of the road. One naked body and two half-naked bodies were thrown from the wreckage. A half-naked man Ling Gu died immediately while two young women – one naked and one half-naked – were seriously injured.
Photos of the wreckage circulated online and many internet users took it as another drink-driving accident involving the "second-generation rich".
Wild stories began to spread that the trio were playing sex games in the car when the accident took place. Different versions of who was driving and who was in the front and back seats became the subject of gossip in Beijing's corridors of power.

The least one can say is a solution for the Tibetan issue is not on the horizon, though Xi's rule may be more benign than Hu Jintao's.

Chinese Hans from 'Tibet'

Dr. Ding Zhongli of the Chinese Academy of Science

A Chinese official publication yesterday asserted: "Tibet, the snow-covered holy land in southwest China, topped a survey of residents’ sense of happiness in Chinese inland areas, with the most satisfying index of air condition."
This was found during a survey, 'China Happiness Index Map', conducted by Tencent.com together with 34 local media involved 10 million voters from 34 provinces, cities and autonomous regions.
The outcome of the survey was: "Tibet was graded with 6.7 points (full marks for 10 points), followed by the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region with a score of 6.2 points and three other provinces including Hainan, Liaoning, Jiangsu Fujian ranking third with the same score of 6.0 points. While Guizhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, with 5.0 points, became the least happiness areas of Chinese inland."
The website added: "Happiness index shows social systems and people’s life, and it is also the indicator of the social development and people's opinion. The survey clearly showed that the 'happiness map' was affected by the pace of life, environment and many other factors a city."
So, why so much resentment against the Central Government of China, if Tibet is such happy place. One could give a long list of reasons. 
Look at this one!
As the Two Meetings are being held in Beijing, I came across the list of delegates from Tibet to the National People's Congress (NPC). 
Tibet is entitled to a meager quota of 20 delegates on nearly 3000 members 'elected' to the rubber-stamp Parliament.
You may be under the impression that the 20 'Tibetan' delegates are born and live on the Roof of the World. You are wrong! 
Amongst them are many Han Chinese as the Bloomberg article posted below shows.  
What is the connection between Chang Xiaobing, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd, a company dealing in wireless carrier and Tibet?
It is a billion yuan question.
And Prof Ding Zhongli, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences?
Though Ding is certainly aware of the environmental problems facing the Himalayas as a Board Member of ICIMOD, the Kathmandu-based organization, is it a criteria for representing Tibet?
According to Prof Ding's CV:

Ding Zhongli, Professor at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was born in Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province in 1957. He was elected as Academician of CAS in 2005, as Chairman of the Chinese National Committee for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (CNC-IGBP) in January 2008, and as a member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China in March 2008. He became Vice-President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in January 2008, following nearly seven years as Director of the CAS Institute of Geology and Geophysics. For the past two decades, Professor Ding has focused his research on the Quaternary climate change and associated forcing mechanisms, and made systematic observations and a pedostratigraphic correlation of the loess sequences over the Chinese Loess Plateau, laying a foundation for later study. For the fi rst time, he established a 2.6-Ma orbital timescale of stacked grain-size records for Chinese loess that is highly compatible with the marine isotope record. He found that the East-Asian
winter monsoon intensity registered in the loess grain-size was in phase with the Milankovitch cycles, particularly the 100 ka eccentricity cycle, and that the winter monsoon intensity is closely related to global ice volume changes. A recipient of many awards, his achievements and many innovative results have been published in numerous highly-ranked international journals and are widely cited. He has also contributed to textbooks that have been published in America and England. Professor Ding has a PhD in Quaternary Geology from the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and a Master of Science in Geochemistry from the Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Well, he could perhaps help to suggest measures to stop the melting of the glaciers and as a geologist, he could advise his colleagues in Beijing about the danger of building too many dams on the Tibetan plateau.
Another  'Tibetan' is Wang Huning, mentioned a couple of times on this blog.
He is one of the rising star of the Party and recently accompanied Xi Jinping in in his 'inspection tour' in Gansu province.
Already a member of the Politburo, he will probably make it to the Standing Committee in 2017.

Wang Huning

I had thought that he would become a 'super' Foreign Minister in Li Keqiang's government, but now it appears that Yang Jiechi, the present Minister will be promoted as State Councilor and will seat in Dai Bingguo's chair, while Wang Yi, a former China's ambassador to Japan from 2004 to 2007 will take Yang's place in the ministry.
Can Wang Huning, with his proximity to Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping do good to Tibet? It has to be seen.
Other Han 'Tibetans' are Chen Quanguo, who was appointed Party Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region in 2011 and Wu Yingjie, the Deputy Secretary of Tibet Autonomous Region.
By the way, Hu Jintao himself used to be a member of the Tibet delegation.
No comment!

China Unicom Chief Joins Congress as Tibet Representative
Bloomberg News
March 4, 2013
China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. (762), the nation’s second-largest wireless carrier, said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Chang Xiaobing has joined the National People’s Congress as a member of the Tibet delegation.
Chang is not ethnically Tibetan, and China Unicom has no information on why he was chosen for that delegation, Zhou Xiaoke, Unicom’s Hong Kong-based director of investor relations, said in an e-mailed response to questions today. Chang has previously served on the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which advises the legislature, he said.
“Many large state-owned enterprises are headquartered in Beijing and their heads cannot be all elected to the Beijing delegation,” Zhou said in the e-mail. “There is some mechanism to allocate the qualified candidates to other delegations.”
Chang joins the Tibetan delegation at a sensitive time as a rising number of activists from the region are setting themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule. Chang is part of the nation’s ethnic Han majority and is from the northern province of Hebei that surrounds Beijing, according to a biography posted on the online encyclopedia Baike run by Baidu Inc., the nation’s largest search engine.
Last year, 83 Tibetans died after setting themselves ablaze, and at least three more died in January, the Tibetan government-in-exile said in a Jan. 25 statement.
The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, has lived in northern India since fleeing in 1959, when China’s military took over the region. China accuses the Dalai Lama of waging a campaign for independence while the spiritual leader says he is seeking autonomy for Tibet.

More on Xi Jinping in Gansu

Labrang monks enrolling a giant thanka on February 22

After posting Why Xi Jinping did not visit Tibet? I came across a communique from the Hong Kong Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy, a Hong Kong-based service which reports on dissidence in the mainland. It asserted:

It has been learned that Xi Jinping's inspection tour of Gansu from 2 to 5 February was not for 'poverty alleviation' purposes as the official media reported but for 'making arrangements to maintain stability' in Tibetan areas of Gansu. Since Xi left the province, the Gansu authorities have arrested over 100 Tibetans - who may be prosecuted for 'inciting subversion of state power' - and more mobile armed police forces have been transferred to Gansu.

The Hong Kong Center is not always accurate in his predictions.
In fact, the information that 100 Tibetans were arrested from Gansu has never been confirmed. On February 7 (a day after Xi Jinping left Gansu province), a Xinhua article mentioned some arrests in Qinghai province, not in Gansu. These arrests probably occurred a couple of days before Xi's arrival in Gansu. Xinhua says:

A total of 70 criminal suspects have been captured by police in Huangnan of northwest China's Qinghai Province in connection with a string of self-immolations that have occurred since November 2012, a senior police officer.
Lyu Benqian, deputy chief of the Qinghai Provincial Public Security Department, said 12 of the suspects were officially arrested over the self-immolation cases in the Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
Police will exert more efforts to thoroughly investigate the cases and seriously punish those who incite innocent people to commit self-immolation, he said.
The Dalai Lama clique masterminded and incited the self-immolations, said Lyu, who is also head of a special police team investigating the self-immolations. Personal information, such as photos of the victims, were sent overseas to promote the self-immolations, he added.
"Some of the victims were frustrated and pessimistic in life, and they wanted to earn respect by self-immolation," Lyu said when analyzing the motive for the self-immolations.

This is the usual Chinese propaganda.
What could have happened is: a large delegation of Labrang and Gannan Prefecture may have called on Xi during his stay in Gansu and briefed him about the prevalent situation. He probably wanted to be acquainted with the issue (by a large number of people, larger than if the encounter had taken place in Beijing).
He may have decided not to 'provoke' the Tibetans and take hasty decisions, without himself being fully settled in his seat. This is a speculation.

Monks carrying the thank in Labrang

Yesterday, China Tibet Online mentioned: "On February 22, 2013, Lamas unveil a gigantic Buddha tangka alongside a hillside for disciples' worship in Labrang Monastery in Xiahe [country of Gannan prefecture], northwest China's Gansu Province. The Buddha tangka display or "the basking of Buddha" is a Tibetan tradition praying for a good year. As one of the six leading monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism, Labrang Monastery built in 1709 is home to more than 1,000 lamas and is another center of the Gelug Sect, also known as the Yellow Sect, of Tibetan Buddhism outside the Tibet Autonomous Region."
Interestingly, during his visit to Gansu, Xi was accompanied by Wang Huning, the new Foreign Affairs star (and member of the Politburo).
A few months back The South China Morning Post reported: "Wang Huning often goes unrecognised despite being a trusted adviser to two presidents, but his cool demeanour hides a sharp political brain."
Now, he is following the new new boss and with his seat in the powerful Politburo he will be give a greater credibility to Foreign Affairs than his predecessor.  
In November, The South China Morning Post explained:

Wang Huning behind Xi in Gansu

Whether Hu Jintao is visiting farmers in remote villages or meeting heads of state, Wang Huning is usually by the president's side.
He was usually there with Jiang Zemin, too, during the latter's decade at the helm.
In fact, Wang has probably appeared in public more often than any other top official in recent years, although he rarely speaks and often goes unrecognised.
For two decades, Wang, 57, has served as a trusted adviser and wordsmith to the country's most powerful men.
He now heads the party's Policy Research Office, where his role is like a combination of national policy adviser and chief speech writer.
After becoming the mainland's youngest university professor - he stayed on after graduating from Fudan University to teach international politics in 1981 - Wang gained respect in leadership circles for his academic depth, neutral political stance and cautious working style.
...Before entering Zhongnanhai - the party headquarters in Beijing - Wang Huning advocated continued authoritarian rule to maintain political stability while gradually introducing democracy inside the party and expanding it to the outside. Jiang, who rose to power in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, was particularly taken by Wang's book, New Authoritarianism, which contained ideas Jiang thought suited the country at the time.
...Due to his close ties to Jiang, many observers consider Wang a member of the former president's "Shanghai gang". But his political savvy and knack for negotiating internal debate have allowed him to thrive under Hu.

An interesting question remains unanswered: will Wang wears two hats after the Two Meetings: Foreign Minister in the State Council and Special Representative. It is rumoured that he could take Dai Bingguo's job with, among others, the responsibility to negotiate the border dispute with India (with the National Security Advisor Menon).
We will have to wait a couple of weeks to know for sure.